As the Shapeways community has grown we have been getting together to talk 3D printing, check out each other's designs, play with new 3D printed materials, share tips on 3D modeling and best practices for Shapeways shops. We have hosted Meetups in NYC, Eindhoven, Sydney, Melbourne, Munich, London and Amsterdam but now we have made it easier for the community to host Shapeways Meetups Everywhere...

Shapeways community members have already started to host events in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Atlanta and Ocala so they can meet other Shapeways users in their area.  Join them or start your own....

The Minneapolis meetup is taking place tonight, so if you are in the area grab your 3D prints and join Marcus Ritland and get to know other Shapeways community members. 

These amazing task based grippers & crawlers are relatively easy to build compared to their cyborg mechanical counterparts.  

Using a 3-D printer to make a mold & selecting materials with the right mechanical properties, it should be possible to make devices in a wide range of sizes.  The gripper, a small six-pointed star, is made of two types of rubber, one softer and more extensible than the other. Air or fluid is pumped into microchannels in the device through a small tube, the softer rubber extends more and introduces curvature. Properly choreographed, this is translated into a functionally working activity.  Researchers in George Whitesides lab at Harvard University, showed off a soft rubber gripper picking up an uncooked egg and an anesthetized mouse without damaging them. 

Guest post by Joshua Harker

This first ever Minneapolis Shapeways meetup will be a gathering of creative 3D artists and interested folks, showing awesome 3D prints and chatting about 3D printing and Shapeways thanks to Shapeways community member Denali3dDesign aka Marcus Ritland.

At the meeting, we'll be showing 3D prints and chatting about how small businesses can profit by leveraging this powerful technology only recently made available to individuals and small businesses.

We'll be discussing many topics like Product Design, Small Business Marketing, Creative Thinking, Entrepreneurs, Prototyping, and Kickstarting projects.

Bring yourself, your friends, your 3D prints and meet others interested in 3D printing.

3D Printed in sterling silver the Earth Tree Pendant is simply beautiful. Make every day Earth Day when you wear this pendant in the shape of a tree, with some of the roots creating a garland around it. It stand on a surface or be hung in a necklace.

Come along to the Mason Jar in NYC for the March Shapeways 3D Printing Meetup.

We will have a heap of materials for you to play with and you will have a chance to say hello to long time community member, now official moderator Mike Williams and goodbye to Ana who is sadly leaving the Shapeways team to nurture the world of open source software development.

As always everyone is welcome to come along, bring a friend, bring your 3D prints and meet others who are interested in talking 3D printing. We will have a heap of models with us also and you might even get a sneak peek of the new colors we are about to release, maybe

RSVP via Meetup

To make room for the fresh new colors we are introducing to Shapeways we are going to be retiring the less popular colors currently available for your 3D prints. As of April the 4th we will stop taking orders for Winter Red, Dark Grey and Indigo and introducing a palette beautiful new colors.

We are super excited to be introducing the new colors as part of our efforts to help you make beautiful products but wanted to make sure you have a last chance to order any prints in the existing colors before we make the change and launch new colors on April 4th at 12:00 noon EST.

The colors we introduce on Wednesday April the 4th will be for a trial period, then if they prove popular we will add them to our Black Strong & Flexible as permanent colors.

Get ready for some fresh new colors that will make your 3D prints POP......

Image: Color Wheel by szb78 under Creative Commons from Flickr

We know it's true and the dorkShop know it too thanks to the Intro to Design for 3D Printing at Parsons The New School of Design.

Arthur Young-Spivey, Caitlin Morris, Lisa Marks and Alvaro Soto introduced the context and concepts of 3D printing along with a beginners tutorial in 3D modeling for 3D printing in Rhino.  The group ranged from artists, architects, jewelers and designers all interested in making their ideas a reality with 3D printing.  If you are interested in running a design for 3D printing class in your area get in touch with us and we may be able to help spread the word. Any schools interested in getting access to 3D printing should subscribe to our 3D printing educational program.

We had a great turnout at our very first Lab Day in NYC where Shapeways users had a chance to visit the office, talk to Shapeways team members and have a sneak peek at some materials we have been experimenting with. 

It was great to meet with some of the community members and talk to them about their ideas, how to bring them to life and document.

Keep an eye on the blog as we will have more of these events in the near future such as the upcoming Meetups in Utrecht Friday March 30th, London on April 25th and New York March 28th. 

If there is something specific you would like to see at these events or if you would like us to help you host a Meetup in your area, please let us know.

Thanks again to all who came along. 

First time Shapeways user Rawrlers was faced with the problem of how to mount a cylindrical speaker and the solution is an elegant 3D print, of course.